Tag: Nutrition

Dietitians often use the “Healthy Plate,” combined with portion control, to help people plan healthy meals in order to help control their blood sugar, lower cholesterol and to lose weight. The healthy plate is similar to the USDA’s “My Plate,” except that half of the plate is just vegetables, instead of fruits and vegetables. The other half of the plate is divided evenly between lean proteins and high carb (and hopefully high fiber!) foods. Also, corn, potatoes, and peas count as a starch, not a vegetable. Beans and legumes count as a protein and a starch. There you have it- the healthy plate in a nutshell!

How does the healthy plate method help with weight loss and blood sugar control? Vegetables are high in fiber, water, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, and very low in calories. As you eat more vegetables, you will naturally start eating less of the high calorie, high carb, high fat foods that contribute to chronic disease and weight gain when consumed in excess.

The main problem of the typical American diet, is that it is full of high fat proteins and highly refined carbs, with very little room for vegetables. If you are like most Americans, as far as your diet goes, Incorporating more vegetables into your diet is the #1 most important thing you could do to improve your health and your family’s health.

Since veggies are so important, I decided to share what eating the healthy plate way would look like throughout the day and give you some tips to get started.

Breakfast:

Breakfast Burritos

Toss a handful of spinach into the pan while frying your eggs.

Toss in a handful of spinach or kale to your favorite Smoothie Recipe.

Make a meal out of your salad. Salads are a great way to fill up on vegetables, but they don’t always fill me up. To make a salad a complete meal, add some lean proteins like baked or grilled chicken, a hard boiled egg or roasted chickpeas. Then add a high fiber carb, like cooked quinoa, corn or more beans. For more filling power, add a sprinkling of sunflower seeds, almonds or avocado.

Add leftover steamed or roasted veggies from the night before to your lunch sandwich or wrap

Take vegetable soup or stew to work with you.

Snacks: Try Veggies and Hummus or veggies and dip

Dinner: Veggie should be the main event at dinner time!

Start Dinner with a simple side salad

Sauté or Roast Fresh Vegetables to go with your dinner.

Steam frozen vegetables in the microwave, sprinkle with some cheese or your favorite dressing.

As a dietitian, it pains me just a little bit to ever follow a recipe completely, without trying to make it healthier with a few tweaks. Here are a couple tips and tricks I do on a regular basis to make recipes a little bit healthier.

Tip: Use a blend of half whole wheat and half white flour for everything.

Nutrition Boost:Increases dietary fiber. Substitute half the flour in a recipe for whole wheat flour. This works well for pizza crust, muffins, cookies, bread, pancakes and coffee cake. Everything will be a little bit denser, but still just as delicious! I wouldn’t do this for cakes or delicate cookies, since it might make them too crumbly.

Tip: Reduce the sugar by 1/2 of what the recipe calls for.

Nutrition Boost: Baked goods will have less empty calories. I do this for breakfast foods, like rolls and muffins and quick breads, like pumpkin, banana bread and zucchini bread. When cutting the sugar in half, you can sprinkle to the top of the baked goods with a little cinnamon and sugar or lemon and sugar glaze for an extra pop of flavor. Not feeling super confident to start altering recipes? Try my 20 Minute Cinnamon Biscuits or Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal which have already been tweaked for you!

Nutrition Boost: Improve the balance of heart healthy fats in your diet. Even if a recipe calls for something to be sautéed in butter, I substitute most or all of the butter for olive oil. Why olive oil? Olive oil is high in heart healthy monounsaturated fats, is easy to find, and lends a mild and pleasant flavor to most savory dishes. If you really want that buttery flavor, melt just a tablespoon of butter into the dish at the end.

What are your favorite ways to improve recipes? I’d love to hear from you!